Siemens has entered into an agreement to acquire a majority ownership interest in Alstom. As a result of this acquisition Amtrak will now have a single vendor for all of its new power (Chargers, Cities Sprinter/ACS-64, Avelia Liberty) and a significant part of their new coaches.

Germany’s Siemens AG and France’s Alstom SA are discussing a merger to create a European rail transportation manufacturing conglomerate to counter growing competition from China, according to a report in the Sept. 23, 2017 Wall Street Journal. Meanwhile, Siemens continues to engage in talks with Canada’s Bombardier, Inc. about merging their railway businesses.

Nasadowsk wrote:I think Siemenstrom (Alstmens?) has enough to sort out without the mess that's BBD, and what does it buy them anyway? A lot of headaches? A lot of angry customers? Access to NJ Transit? Whoop de do.

Nasadowsk wrote:I think Siemenstrom (Alstmens?) has enough to sort out without the mess that's BBD, and what does it buy them anyway? A lot of headaches? A lot of angry customers? Access to NJ Transit? Whoop de do.

Nope ... just "Siemens" ... Alstom is being bought out. The process will be slow and the names probably won't fully change for several years but read the news and that is clearly what's happening.

bdawe wrote:If only the US counted enough in the world rolling stock market for US regulators to be able to dissuade such a pairing

Why should US regulators have anything to say at all on the affairs of European firms?(Contrary to what the political left wants people to believe these days, it was the USA that once was a colony of a European nation, not vice versa)

One must wonder, and I don't know, to what extent European states have "buy at home" provisions on anything.

What would happen if The Donald took the Hoover Dam tour (if it even still offered post 9/11) and noted as I did some ASEA electrical equipment. I asked the guide; he said to me "they had the best price".

Gilbert B Norman wrote:One must wonder, and I don't know, to what extent European states have "buy at home" provisions on anything.

What would happen if The Donald took the Hoover Dam tour (if it even still offered post 9/11) and noted as I did some ASEA electrical equipment. I asked the guide; he said to me "they had the best price".

I don't think they do. During the period of state ownership, BA was a Boeing-heavy carrier. AF is still 17% state-owned and they certainly have a strong Boeing presence in the fleet. SAS is about 50pct gov't owned and they are mostly Airbus but the Airbus constituents are mostly Germany/France/UK (and now Alabama!). I'd do the same analysis for railroad equipment but there is not a US builder for passenger equipment. There are plenty of EMD GT42 at DB Rail UK, but not sure if they were bought or inherited.